Love Hotels: The Hidden Fantasy Rooms of Japan

by Misty Keasler, Natsuo Kirino (Foreword), Rod Slemmons (Contributor)

Sex creates odd cultural conventions everywhere, but nowhere has an institution quite like the Japanese love hotel. To be rented by the hour for amorous liaisons, the theme rooms revealed in this provocative collection of photographs are steeped in fantasy, their elaborate dcor ranging from simulated subway cars to religious bondage with much kink in between. These brash rooms are fascinating in themselves, but also present a window into a very classified aspect of this society. The foreword by best-selling author Natsuo Kirino and passages from hotel guest books lend humor and context to these 80 haunting room portraits, creating an astonishing document of sex and romance, public and private space in Japan.

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction, Photography, Sexuality, Art

156 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 2006

Reviews

[Konrad Pociask · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book is seriously overpriced. Photos of love hotels way past their prime. Only part worth seeing is the middle "Our Resume" section which includes interesting profiles and feedback from people who have visited the hotel. That was funny. The rest was a joke...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book because Natsuo Kirino wrote the introduction to it.

[Titan3lla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Came across this book in the library, thought I'd have a look into it. The Introduction is very interesting as it explains the Japanese "tradition" of love hotels.
Really enjoyed the middle section with the Resumes in it, that really shows how diverse the people using these hotels are. But some of the photos... they just didn't really seem good. Lacking composition sometimes I felt. I'd think there are more interesting rooms than some that are included in this book.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I was expecting here but it wasn't really this. I also wasn't expecting this much bondage. While a few rooms look interesting most don't really seem that sexy to me and very few have beds so I guess that means less linens to wash for the cleaning staff.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm really not sure what to do with this book.
The Hello Kitty room is cute. The info cards from the clients are...Confronting.
Yeah...So...Still not sure how I feel.

[+kflem+]

do art books count? the essays are good(but i'm really in it for the pictures).

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting

[Teddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book a 4 because of the photos. But for a few pages of text it really does not tell you anything. It left me wanting to know more.